San Francisco is a city of fog and hills, natural beauty and manmade marvels. And it's also one of the most booming and exciting real estate centers in the country. Anyone who has ever pored over real estate listings in the Bay Area knows that San Francisco mortgages tend to come with a high price tag. For those with less-than-stellar credit, finding a San Francisco home loan that is both affordable and practical can seem nearly impossible. However, with online direct lenders specializing in San Francisco bay area mortgages, both first-time buyers and those looking to refinance can find affordable loans in a matter of moments.
Selecting San Francisco Bay Area Mortgage Terms
After making the choice to search for San Francisco mortgages online, prospective buyers can access current mortgage quotes quickly and easily via free mortgage calculators provided by lenders. San Francisco homebuyers can also directly apply for paperless loans over the Internet, often receiving same-day pre-approval in a competitive market. Online direct lenders specializing in SF bay area mortgages frequently also have the lowest fees compared to the high costs of using mortgage brokers as intermediaries.
When seeking a San Francisco mortgage, potential buyers will need to decide whether or not they would prefer a fixed-rate or adjustable rate mortgage. While fixed-rate mortgages offer predictable payments each month, San Francisco's adjustable rate mortgages are recalculated periodically and you may benefit from falling interest rates. On the downside, borrowers are also susceptible to rising rates, which has landed many homeowners in difficulties recently and forces them to seek refinancing. Popular terms for fixed-rate mortgages include 15, 20, or 30-year loans, while other borrowers will opt for a 30/15 home loan and its inclusion of a balloon payment halfway through.
Of course, for those who are considered high-risk borrowers, securing an attractive mortgage loan for the San Francisco Bay ARea can pose problems. Many times, the best option is to locate an online direct lender who specializes in bad-credit or high-risk home mortgages. These firms will usually offer the best rates to such borrowers, and direct lenders will also tend to charge lower fees than brokerages, alleviating even more of the ultimate financial burden.
Bay Area Home Prices Plunge 41%
Thursday, November 20, 2008NBC reports that prices of homes sold fell a staggerinng 41% year-over-year. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that prices of individual houses decrease that much. It could simply reflect home buyers' focussing their attention on more downmarket houses that would have been cheaper in the first place. On the other side, there is also a larger share of homes in foreclosure among these sales, which usually go for significant discounts.
The number of homes sold at those lower prices rose 39% over the same time. This shows that even in these difficult times, there are always plenty of buyers able to afford a new home and ready to buy as long as the price is right.
Mortgage rates hit 8-month high
30-year loans climb a quarter point over the previous week
Sunday, June 15, 2008
PDT Washington -- Rates on 30-year mortgages jumped to the highest level in nearly eight months, reflecting increased concerns about what the Federal Reserve might do to battle inflation. Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.32 percent last week. That was up sharply from 6.09 percent the previous week. It was the highest level for 30-year mortgages since they averaged 6.33 percent for the week of Oct. 25.
Analysts attributed the big jump to increased concerns in financial markets that the Federal Reserve might be preparing to start raising interest rates in order to make sure that inflation does not get out of control.
In a speech on Monday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled deepening worries about inflation and said the Fed would "strongly resist" any tendency for Americans' expectations about price increases to become unsettled.
Those comments have led many investors to move up the date when they believe the Fed might start raising interest rates to sometime later this year. From last September through April, the central bank was aggressively cutting rates to try to keep the economy from falling into a recession.
Other types of mortgages showed increases this week, according to the Freddie Mac survey. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 5.93 percent from 5.65 percent; five-year adjustable-rate mortgages rose to 5.70 percent from 5.51 percent last week, and one-year adjustable-rate mortgages edged up to 5.09 percent from 5.06 percent. The mortgage rates do not include points. The nationwide fee for 30-year and five-year mortgages averaged 0.7 of a point. The fee on 15-year and one-year mortgages averaged 0.6 of a point.
A year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages stood at 6.33 percent, 15-year mortgage rates averaged 5.99 percent, five-year adjustable-rate mortgages were at 6.37 percent and one-year adjustable-rate mortgages were at 5.75 percent.
This article appeared on page K-9 of the San Francisco Chronicle